The summer has finally arrived! The last month has been full of first aid trainings, base camp set up, and tons of travel. By June 13th all but a few stragglers had arrived in base camp and we were ready to kick off our last round of training. This year the sea kayaking guides were available to join the mountain guides on their training trip up Sun Peak. With everyone, including the sea kayakers, in base camp at once, we were stuffed like sardines in the back of the barn those first few rainy meals. That didn’t last long though. The guides only had three days of training in base camp before hitting the trail.
With the guides, the sea kayakers, and the trainers there were thirty-three people who headed up the mountain last Thursday. To make things a little more manageable, everyone split into three different groups, Safety Third lead by Abbie and Yonkers, the Bleating Fawns lead by Jeff and Becca, and Doyacopy lead by Joe and Alissa. These names may sound a little weird but they’re an indication that there was a lot of laughter ringing through the mountains this last week.
Day one up Chatterbox was obligingly sunny for the intense 4400 ft hike up to Sun City. Unfortunately that was the last we would see of the sun for several days. We woke up the morning of day two in a cloud that stayed with us until we climbed down off the summit four days later. But we weren’t too bothered by the mist, or the snow we hit at just 2800 ft. Days 2 and 3 were a pleasant mix of snow rotations, life stories, sneak leaps, Bible studies, epic snow ball battles, and a quick hike up to Contact Lakes.
We woke up early on day four, packed up camp, and headed to the top of the moraine (the west lateral moraine of the JJ glacier). Three of the trainers headed out early and trekked across the glacier to find a spot to practice crevasse rescue. Their recon was successful; they located a crevasse large enough to send four people in at once. It was a cold and rainy day but the weather is hardly noticeable when you get to spend the whole day jumping in and rescuing people from a sweet crevasse. By the time we got back in our rope teams and slogged back across the glacier to our campsite we were all totally exhausted, but it was a good day.
Day five was summit day and the tough ascent conditions had been on the minds of the trainers the whole week. The heavy snow threw our original plans of summiting Sun Peak into question. This week the usually steep and rocky ascent route was now steep and heavy with snow. Last year the snow was lower but there was still enough to keep us off Sun Peak and move us over to JJ. We didn’t give up that easily though. First thing that morning Jeff, Joe, and Yonkers headed up Sun Peak to see if they could find a route up and over. The snow was deep and steep but our fearless trainers managed, with the help of five hand-lines, to make the Sun Peak knife ridge passable. It took the thirty of us nine hours to clear the summit- a trip that takes less than two under different conditions. It was late, raining, and windy when we finally rolled into Miners Rock and Maurie’s Mound, but we’d made it and it was worth it!
The next morning, day six, we were rewarded for all of our hard work with a view that would take your breath away. We woke up to partly sunny skies, which after the weather we’d had felt like a blue bird day. We yard-saled all of our gear hoping the sporadic sun might dry things out, then we sprawled out on the rock ourselves and settled in for a morning of hot bevies and life stories. A quick rock climb, rappel, and first aid scenario broke up the afternoon, and we were all full from dinner when we finally packed up and headed back down into the forest for our last night on the trail.
Throughout the week, with rotating Leader of the Day teams facilitating spiritual content and the delegation of daily responsibilities, we focused on Romans 15:1-7. Within our groups we processed how Jesus gives us the kind of hope, endurance and encouragement that allows us to live in harmony as a community. Authentic conversations ensued about how we feel most connected with the people around us and how to truly accept ourselves, and those we are in community with, as God has accepted us . We tried to define what glory actually is, how to give that glory to God, and how to become “little Christs”. Sitting on the side of a mountain, in the freezing rain under the McFly, we realized how much this experience, with these people, feels like home. Our common struggle, our shared moments of weakness, and our ability to be strong only as one united body, brought the scriptural content alive for all of us as we paralleled the mountain with our lives.
Now, we’ve made it back to base camp and have even headed back to the wilderness again. Our first trips are out in the mountains experiencing that same sense of common struggle and drawing the parallel between this mountain experience and their lives at home. We’re thankful for our training, for the ways our lives are changed through struggle, through community, but mostly through Christ. We pray for continued transformation, for ourselves and for our participants, throughout this summer. Thanks for your prayers and support for this adventure.
